Using the right
word can matter. Using the wrong word can matter even more. I once lost a
potential writing gig because I used "who" instead of
"whom" in a proposal letter.
(And I still have
trouble getting "who" and "whom" right.)
Even just one
incorrectly used word--especially when you're trying to make a great
impression--can ruin everything. Is that unfair? Yes... but it does happen.
To make sure that
doesn't happen to you, I've collected some of the most common incorrectly used
words from other posts into one epic post. (Thanks to all the readers along the
way who offered their own examples, many of which are included here.)
Here we go.
Adverse and averse
Adverse means harmful or unfavorable: "Adverse market
conditions caused the IPO to be poorly subscribed." Averse refers to feelings of dislike or opposition: "I
was averse to paying $18 a share for a company that generates no revenue."
But, hey, feel
free to have an aversion to adverse conditions.
Advise and advice
Aside from the two words being pronounced differently (the s in advise sounds like az), advise is a verb while advice is a noun. Advice is what you give (whether or not the
recipient is interested in that gift is a different issue altogether) when you
advise someone.
So "Thank you
for the advise" is incorrect, while "I advise you not to bore me with
your advice in the future" is correct if pretentious.
If you run into
trouble, just say each word out loud and you'll instantly know which makes
sense; there's no way you'd ever say "I advice you to..."
Affect and effect
Verbs first. Affect means to
influence: "Impatient investors affected our roll-out date."Effect means to
accomplish something: "The board effected a sweeping policy change."
How you use effect or affect can be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them and can effect changes by directly implementing them. Bottom line,
use effect if you're making
it happen, and affect if you're having
an impact on something that someone else is trying to make happen.
As for nouns, effect is almost always
correct: "Once he was fired he was given 20 minutes to gather his personal
effects." Affect refers to an
emotional state, so unless you're a psychologist you probably have little
reason to use it.
Aggressive and enthusiastic
Aggressive is a very popular business adjective: aggressive sales
force, aggressive revenue projections, aggressive product rollout. But
unfortunately, aggressive means ready to attack, or pursuing aims forcefully,
possibly unduly so.
So do you really
want an "aggressive" sales force?
Of course, most people have seen aggressive used that way for so long they don't think of it
negatively; to them it just means hard-charging, results-oriented, driven,
etc., none of which are bad things.
But some people may not see it that way. So consider using words
like enthusiastic,eager, committed, dedicated, or even (although it pains me to say it) passionate.
Award and reward
An award is a
prize. Musicians win Grammy Awards. Car companies win J.D. Power awards.
Employees win Employee of the Month awards. Think of an award as the result of
a contest or competition.
A reward is
something given in return for effort, achievement, hard work, merit, etc. A
sales commission is a reward. A bonus is a reward. A free trip for landing the
highest number of new customers is a reward.
Be happy when your
employees win industry or civic awards, and reward them for the hard work and
sacrifices they make to help your business grow.
Between and among
Use between when you name
separate and individual items. Take "The team will decide between Mary,
Marcia, and Steve when we fill the open customer service position." Mary,
Marcia, and Steve are separate and distinct, so between is correct.
Use among when there are
three or more items but they are not named separately. Like, "The team
will decide among a number of candidates when we fill the open customer service
position." Who are the candidates? You haven't named them separately, so among is correct.
And we're assuming there are more than two candidates; otherwise
you'd say between. If there are two candidates you could say, "I
just can't decide between them."
Bring and take
Both have to do with objects you move or carry. The difference
is in the point of reference: You bring things here and you take them there. You ask people to bring
something
to you, and you ask people to take something to
someone or somewhere else.
"Can you
bring an appetizer to John's party"? Nope.
Compliment and complement
Compliment means to say something nice. Complement means added to, enhanced, improved, completed, or
brought close to perfection.
I can compliment
your staff and their service, but if you have no current openings you have a
full complement of staff. Or your new app may complement your website.
For which I may decide
to compliment you.
Continuously and continually
Both words come from the root continue, but they mean very
different things. Continuously means never ending. Hopefully your efforts to develop
your employees are continuous, because you never want to stop improving their
skills and their future.
Continual means whatever you're referring to stops and starts.
You might have frequent disagreements with your co-founder, but unless those
discussions never end (which is unlikely, even though it might feel otherwise),
then those disagreements are continual.
That's why you
should focus on continuous improvement but plan to have continual meetings with
your accountant: The former should never, ever stop, and the other (mercifully)
should.
Criterion and criteria
A criterion is a principle or
standard. If you have more than one criterion, those are referred to as
criteria.
But if you want to be safe and you only have one issue to
consider, just say standard or rule or benchmark. Then use criteria for all the times
there are multiple specifications or multiple standards involved.
Discreet and discrete
Discreet means careful, cautious, showing good judgment:
"We made discreet inquiries to determine whether the founder was
interested in selling her company."
Discrete means individual, separate, or distinct: "We
analyzed data from a number of discrete market segments to determine overall
pricing levels." And if you get confused, remember: You don't use
"discretion" to work through sensitive issues; you exercise
discretion.
Elicit and illicit
Elicit means to draw out or coax. Think of elicit as the mildest form of extract. If one lucky survey
respondent will win a trip to the Bahamas
Illicit means illegal or unlawful, and while I suppose you
could elicit a response at gunpoint, you probably shouldn't.
Everyday and every day
Every day means, yep, every day -- each and every day. If you
ate a bagel for breakfast each day this week, you had a bagel every day.
Everyday means commonplace or normal. Decide to wear your
"everyday shoes" and that means you've chosen to wear the shoes you
normally wear. That doesn't mean you have to wear them every single day; it
just means wearing them is a common occurrence.
Another example is along and a
long: Along means moving in a
constant direction or a line, or in the company of others, while a
long means of great
distance or duration. You wouldn't stand in "along line," but you
might stand in a long line for a long time, along with a number of other people.
A couple more examples: a while and awhile, and any
way and anyway.
If you're in doubt, read what you write out loud. It's unlikely
you'll decide, "Is there anyway (say it
fast) you can help me?" sounds right. "Is there any (small pause) way
you can help me?" does.
Evoke and invoke
To evoke is to call to
mind; an unusual smell might evoke a long-lost memory. To invoke is to call upon
something: help, aid, or maybe a higher power.
So hopefully all
your branding and messaging efforts evoke specific emotions in potential
customers. But if they don't, you might consider invoking the gods of commerce
to aid you in your quest for profitability.
Or something like
that.
Farther and further
Farther involves a physical distance: "Florida
is farther from New York than Tennessee
So, as we say in
the South (and that "we" has included me), "I don't trust you
any farther than I can throw you," or "I ain't gonna trust you no
further."
Fewer and less
Use fewer when referring to
items you can count, like "fewer hours" or "fewer dollars."
Use
"less" when referring to items you can't (or haven't tried to) count,
like "less time" or "less money."
Good and well
Anyone who has children uses good more often than he
or she should. Since kids pretty quickly learn what good means, "You did good, honey" is much more
convenient and meaningful than "You did well, honey."
But that doesn't mean good is the correct
word choice.
Good is an adjective that describes something; if you did a
good job, then you do good work. Well is an adverb that
describes how something was done; you can do your job well.
Where it gets
tricky is when you describe, say, your health or emotional state. "I don't
feel well" is grammatically correct, even though many people (including
me) often say, "I don't feel too good." On the other hand, "I
don't feel good about how he treated me" is correct; no one says "I
don't feel well about how I'm treated."
Confused? If
you're praising an employee and referring to the outcome say, "You did a
good job." If you're referring to how the employee performed say,
"You did incredibly well."
And while you're at it, stop saying good to your kids and use great instead, because
no one -- especially a kid -- ever receives too much praise.
If and whether
If and whether are often
interchangeable. If a yes/no condition is involved, then feel free to use
either: "I wonder whether Jim will finish the project on time?" or
"I wonder if Jim will finish the project on time?" (Whether sounds a little
more formal in this case, so consider your audience and how you wish to be
perceived.)
It gets trickier
when a condition is not involved. "Let me know whether Marcia needs a
projector for the meeting" isn't conditional, because you want to be
informed either way. "Let me know if Marcia needs a projector for the
meeting" is conditional because you want to be told only if she needs one.
And always use if when you introduce
a condition. "If you hit your monthly target, I'll increase your
bonus," is correct; the condition is hitting the target and the bonus is
the result. "Whether you are able to hit your monthly target is totally up
to you," does not introduce a condition (unless you want the employee to infer
that your thinly veiled threat is a condition of ongoing employment).
Impact and affect (and effect)
Many people (including, until recently, me) use impact when they should use affect. Impact doesn't mean to influence; impact means to strike,
collide, or pack firmly.
Affect means to
influence: "Impatient investors affected our rollout date."
And to make it more confusing, effect means to
accomplish something: "The board effected a sweeping policy change."
How you correctly use effect or affect can be tricky. For
example, a board can affect changes by influencing them and can effect changes
by directly implementing them. Bottom line, use effect if you're making it happen, and affect if you're having an impact on something that someone
else is trying to make happen.
As for nouns, effect is almost always
correct: "Employee morale has had a negative effect on productivity." Affect refers to an emotional state, so unless you're a
psychologist, you probably have little reason to use it.
So stop saying you'll "impact sales" or "impact
the bottom line." Use affect.
(And feel free to
remind me when I screw that up, because I feel sure I'll backslide.)
Imply and infer
The speaker or writer implies, which means to suggest. The listener or reader infers,
which
means to deduce, whether correctly or not.
So I might imply you're going to receive a raise. And you might
infer that a pay increase is imminent. (But not eminent, unless the raise will somehow be prominent and
distinguished.)
Insure and ensure
This one's easy. Insure refers to insurance. Ensure means to make sure.
So if you promise
an order will ship on time, ensure that it actually happens. Unless, of course,
you plan to arrange for compensation if the package is damaged or lost -- then
feel free to insure away.
(While there are exceptions where insure is used, the safe move is to use ensure when you will do everything possible to make sure
something happens.)
Irregardless and regardless
Irregardless appears in some dictionaries because it's widely used
to mean "without regard to" or "without respect to," which
is also what regardless means.
In theory the ir-, which typically means "not," joined up with
regardless, which means "without regard to," makes irregardless mean
"not without regard to," or more simply, "with regard to."
Which probably makes it a word that does not mean what you think it means.
So save yourself a syllable and just say regardless.
Mute and moot
Think of mute like the button on
your remote; it means unspoken or unable to speak. In the U.S.
So if you were
planning an IPO, but your sales have plummeted, the idea of going public could
be moot. And if you decide not to talk about it anymore, you will have gone
mute on the subject.
Number and amount
I goof these up all the time. Use number when you can count what you refer to: "The number of subscribers who
opted out increased last month." Amount refers to a
quantity of something that can't be counted: "The amount of alcohol
consumed at our last company picnic was staggering."
Of course it can still be confusing: "I can't believe the
number of beers I drank" is correct, but so is, "I can't believe the
amount of beer I drank." The difference is you can count beers, but beer,
especially if you were way too drunk to keep track, is an uncountable total and
makes amount the correct usage.
Peak and peek
A peak is the highest
point; climbers try to reach the peak
of Mount Everest
Occasionally a marketer will try to "peak your
interest" or "peek your interest," but in that case the right
word is pique, which means
"to excite." (Pique can also mean "to upset," but hopefully
that's not what marketers intend.)
Precede and proceed
Precede means to come before. Proceed means to begin or continue. Where it gets confusing is
when an -ing comes into play. "The proceeding announcement was
brought to you by..." sounds fine, but preceding is correct since
the announcement came before.
If it helps, think precedence: Anything that takes precedence is more important and
therefore comes first.
Principle and principal
A principle is a fundamental:
"Our culture is based on a set of shared principles." Principal means primary or
of first importance: "Our startup's principal is located in NYC."
(Sometimes you'll also see the plural, principals, used to refer to executives or relatively co-equals
at the top of a particular food chain.)
Principal can also refer to the most important item in a
particular set: "Our principal account makes up 60 percent of our gross
revenues."
Principal can also refer to money, normally a sum that was
borrowed, but can be extended to refer to the amount you owe -- hence principal
and interest.
If you're referring to laws, rules, guidelines, ethics, etc.,
use principle. If you're referring to the CEO or the president (or
an individual in charge of a high school), use principal.
Slander and libel
Don't like what people say about you? Like slander, libel refers to making a false statement that is harmful to
a person's reputation.
The difference
lies in how that statement is expressed. Slanderous remarks are spoken while
libelous remarks are written and published (which means defamatory tweets could
be considered libelous, not slanderous).
Keep in mind what
makes a statement libelous or slanderous is its inaccuracy, not its harshness.
No matter how nasty a tweet, as long as it's factually correct it cannot be
libelous. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation; you might wish a customer
hadn't said something derogatory about your business, but if what that customer
said is true, then you have no legal recourse.
Stationary and stationery
You write on stationery. You get business stationery, such as letterhead and
envelopes, printed.
But that box of envelopes is not stationary unless it's not moving -- and even then it's still
stationery.
Sympathy and empathy
Sympathy is acknowledging another person's feelings. "I am
sorry for your loss" means you understand the other person is grieving and
want to recognize that fact.
Empathy is having the ability to put yourself in the other
person's shoes and relate to how the person feels, at least in part because
you've experienced those feelings yourself.
The difference is huge. Sympathy is passive; empathy is active.
(Here's a short video by Bren Brown that
does a great job of describing the difference, and explains how empathy fuels connection
while sympathy drives disconnection.)
Know the
difference between sympathy and empathy, live the difference, and you'll make a
bigger difference in other people's lives.
Systemic and systematic
If you're in doubt, systematic is almost always
the right word to use. Systematic means arranged or carried out according to a plan,
method, or system. That's why you can take a systematic approach to continuous
improvement, or do a systematic evaluation of customer revenue or a systematic
assessment of market conditions.
Systemic means belonging to or affecting the system as a whole.
Poor morale could be systemic to your organization. Or bias against employee
diversity could be systemic.
So if your
organization is facing a pervasive problem, take a systematic approach to
dealing with it -- that's probably the only way you'll overcome it.
Then and than
Then refers in some way to time. "Let's close this
deal, and then we'll celebrate!" Since the celebration comes after the
sale, then is correct.
Then is also often used with if. Think in terms of
if-then statements: "If we don't get to the office on time, then we won't
be able to close the deal today."
Than involves a comparison. "Landing Customer A will
result in higher revenue than landing Customer B," or "Our sales team
is more committed to building customer relationships than the competition
is."
Ultimate and penultimate
I once received a
pitch from a PR professional that read, "(Acme Industries) provides the
penultimate value-added services for discerning professionals."
As Inigo would say, "I do not think it means what you think
it means."
Ultimate means the best, or final, or last. Penultimate means the last but one, or second to last. (Or, as a
Monty Python-inspired Michelangelo would say, "the Penultimate Supper!")
But penultimate doesn't mean
second-best. Plus, I don't think my PR friend meant to say her client offered
second-class services. (I think she just thought the word sounded cool.)
Also, keep in mind that using ultimate is fraught with
hyperbolic peril. Are you -- or is what you provide -- really the absolute best
imaginable? That's a tough standard to meet.
And now for the
dreaded apostrophes:
It's and its
It's is the contraction of it
is.
That means it's doesn't own
anything. If your dog is neutered (the way we make a dog, however much against
his or her will, gender neutral), you don't say, "It's collar is
blue." You say, "Its collar is blue."
Here's an easy test to apply. Whenever you use an apostrophe,
un-contract the word to see how it sounds. Turn it's into it is: "It's sunny" becomes "It is sunny."
Sounds good to me.
They're and their
Same with these: They're is the contraction
for they are. Again, the apostrophe doesn't own anything. We're
going to their house, and I sure
hope they're home.
Who's and whose
"Whose password hasn't been changed in six months?" is
correct. Use the non-contracted version of who's, like, "Who is (the non-contracted version of who's) password hasn't
been changed in six months?" and you sound a little silly.
You're and your
One more. You're is the contraction
of you are. Your means you own it;
the apostrophe in you're doesn't own
anything.
A local nonprofit
in my area once displayed a huge sign that said, "You're Community Place
Hmm. "You Are
Community Place"? No, probably not.
Now it's your turn: What words
would you add to the list?
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